~ What's on 2007 ~

MONDAYS:
2 – 4 Art Group – painting classes
6 – 8 Imps Drama Group

WEDNESDAYS:
9.30am Paul Healy’s Spiritual Exercise Sessions

FRIDAYS: 10.45 – 12.45 and
SATURDAYS 10.30 – 1pm
Members’ Coffee Mornings

(…and Fridays 2 – 4PM U3A Painting Group)

St Ives Arts Club's World Classics Series started on 18 May 2007 with an extremely popular recital of Chinese music by the Rosewood Duo (Chinese cimbalom and harp) in collaboration with 'Live Music Now!', who also organised a workshop at Penzance's John Daniel Centre for adults with learning difficulties in conjunction with the concert. This concert introduced the astonishing talent of cimbalom player Ying Han, who delighted the audience with her expressive and virtuosic renditions. This pilot concert was followed up on 13 July by a sell-out recital of Senegalese music by the young griot and kora player Kadialy Kouyate, who provided us with an entrancing and virtuosic performance, introducing each piece and explaining the vocal texts, which constitute a vital part
of the music.
The popularity of the kora is evidenced by the fantastic ticket sales for this event. The instrument is known to many through its inclusion on pop/rock tracks and its use in fusion/crossover bands. It was to be heard in the band Loulou, which performed at this year's Golowan festival in Penzance, and it will again feature in the Seckou Keita Quartet's concert at the forthcoming September Festival (see <www.stives septemberfestival.co.uk>). The aim of the present concert was to present traditional solo kora music, as originally made known in Europe through the playing of the brilliant Malian performer Toumani Diabate in the 80s. In view of the huge success of this recital we will clearly have to invite Kadialy back to St Ives before too long!

The objective of the World Classics Series is to present a wide range of classical and traditional music from across the world, to acquaint people with music of different cultures - music they may never have heard before - and to offer an antidote to the numerous string?quartet recitals in St Ives, lovely though these are.

The great success of these initial recitals has exceeded all musical and financial expectations: over 100 people packed into the Arts Club's auditorium to hear music from China and Senegal, and the two concerts managed to break even. This positive outcome has created a firm footing for the continuation of the series in the autumn and the spring in the form of the following recitals:

Friday 19 October 7.30pm (doors 7pm) - tickets £8 Viram Jasani (sitar) and Hanif Khan (tabla) play music of North India Viram is the UK's top sitar player, and champions the 'gayki' (singing) style developed by the late Ustad Vilayat Khan. This style seeks to emulate the human voice, and to this end features much deflection of the main playing string ('meend') to produce different notes, glissandi and ornamentation (cf the Ravi Shankar school of sitar playing, which is more sitar-based, involving greater use of the frets and more instrumentally based ornamentation, e.g. hammering of the strings). In addition to his classical playing, Viram has featured on recordings by Led Zeppelin, Osibisa and Sky(!).
Hanif is the UK's foremost exponent of tabla, a pair of drums that create a plethora of sounds. The rhythmic system of North Indian music is probably the most complex of any rhythmic system in the world - indeed, solo tabla recitals are not uncommon. This concert follows on from two recitals of North Indian vocal music in 2006 (Piu Sarkhel & Purnima Chaudhuri at Tate St Ives and Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar at the September Festival) and two concerts of North Indian wind music in 2007 (the shahnai player Satish Prakash at Tate St Ives and the great flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia in the September Festival). Don't miss the beautiful sound of the sitar and tabla in concert - the first sitar recital in Penwith for many years!

Friday 23 November 7.30pm (doors 7pm) - tickets £8 Ahmed Mukhtar (oud) plays music of Iraq Ahmed plays classical Arabic music on the fretless long?necked Arabic lute known as oud or ud (hence our word 'lute'). This renowned musician has performed worldwide, has issued many CDs and has recorded frequently for BBC Radio 3. His many appearances include: Festival of Iraqi Culture, Stockholm 2002 & 2003 WOMAD Festival, Reading 2003 Mediterranean Festival, Italy 2004 Book International Exhibition (guest performer), UAE 2005 Iraqi Music Week, London 2006 Al Mada Festival, Iraq April 2007 Conference of Arab Writers (guest performer), Algeria 2007 Please take advantage of this rare chance to experience this brilliant oud player and the unique opportunity to hear classical Arabic music in the Westcountry!

January/February 2008, date tba Kiku Day (shakuhachi) plays music of Japan Kiku is the UK's foremost player of shakuhachi - the end-blown Japanese flute - and plays in the honkyoku style. She will be performing both traditional and new works.

January/February 2008, date tba Ruth Wall (clarsach/Scottish small harp) plays music of Scotland Following her popular recital in the 2005 September Festival this renowned clarsach player returns to St Ives to play music of the 'pibroch' tradition, plus new pieces.

Tickets for the autumn events, price £8, are now available from Will Sleath (01736?794477). Book now to avoid disappointment - remember that the kora recital was vastly oversubscribed!
Tickets will additionally be on sale at St Ives TIC (01736/796297) nearer the time.